Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cairo and South Africa

Name: South Africa
Address: ZA

For one person, living is cheaper in Cairo: $643 a month against $1,182 in South Africa, rent and utilities included – about $6,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

31

Cost of Living Index in Cairo
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Cairo Living Index
58

Cost of Living Index in South Africa
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South Africa Living Index

Jump to prices

Cairo

🇪🇬 Egypt

$643

/mo nomad

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,182

/mo nomad

🙂 Solo nomad: Cairo is 36.2% cheaper than South Africa without rent, and 45.6% cheaper with rent.

🙂 Family of 3: Cairo is 36.9% cheaper than South Africa without rent, and 43.3% cheaper with rent.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.69 E£245

$10.64 R 176

-55.92%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$28.49 E£1,491

$41.40 R 683

-31.18%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.03 E£315

$5.60 R 92.4

7.68%

Cappuccino

$1.81 E£94.7

$2.28 R 37.63

-20.61%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.35 E£18.18

$1.16 R 19.17

-69.83%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.15 E£7.95

$0.92 R 15.22

-83.70%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.45 E£76.0

$2.45 R 40.40

-40.82%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.24 E£117

$2.95 R 48.69

-24.07%

Milk (1 liter)

$0.97 E£50.7

$1.19 R 19.63

-18.49%

White Bread (500g)

$0.73 E£37.96

$1.12 R 18.42

-34.82%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$0.77 E£40.24

$1.79 R 29.58

-56.98%

Eggs

$1.17 E£61.2

$2.48 R 40.88

-52.82%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$4.32 E£226

$8.08 R 133

-46.53%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.07 E£265

$5.13 R 84.7

-1.17%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$8.92 E£467

$7.81 R 129

14.21%

Apples (1kg)

$1.83 E£95.8

$1.87 R 30.78

-2.14%

Banana (1kg)

$0.75 E£39.07

$1.66 R 27.42

-54.82%

Oranges (1kg)

$0.57 E£29.78

$1.77 R 29.15

-67.80%

Tomato (1kg)

$0.51 E£26.62

$1.80 R 29.67

-71.67%

Potato (1kg)

$0.38 E£20.05

$1.49 R 24.53

-74.50%

Onion (1kg)

$0.42 E£21.88

$1.50 R 24.71

-72.00%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.35 E£18.43

$1.28 R 21.16

-72.66%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.24 E£12.57

$1.09 R 17.97

-77.98%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$1.99 E£104

$3.22 R 53.2

-38.20%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.48 E£391

$4.93 R 81.3

51.72%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.52 E£79.4

$1.48 R 24.47

2.70%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.13 E£112

$2.01 R 33.09

5.97%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.33 E£17.10

$1.60 R 26.39

-79.38%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$8.66 E£453

$60.7 R 1,001

-85.73%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.37 E£19.27

$1.09 R 17.98

-66.06%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.20 E£10.65

$0.98 R 16.23

-79.59%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$1.49 E£77.8

$7.42 R 122

-79.92%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.46 E£23.94

$1.49 R 24.63

-69.13%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$32.6K E£1.7M

$35.0K R 578.2K

-6.91%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$28.4K E£1.5M

$31.6K R 521.1K

-10.11%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$27.54 E£1,441

$131 R 2,168

-79.04%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$8.27 E£432

$34.71 R 573

-76.17%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$14.05 E£735

$39.94 R 659

-64.82%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$28.27 E£1,479

$33.88 R 559

-16.56%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$6.70 E£350

$11.39 R 188

-41.18%

Cinema Ticket

$4.40 E£230

$7.31 R 121

-39.81%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$121 E£6,356

$225 R 3,715

-46.05%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,619 E£189.3K

$5,485 R 90.5K

-34.02%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$40.16 E£2,101

$52.0 R 858

-22.74%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$49.61 E£2,596

$33.30 R 549

48.98%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$115 E£6,033

$99.4 R 1,640

15.99%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$60.6 E£3,170

$87.4 R 1,441

-30.65%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$220 E£11.5K

$480 R 7,918

-54.17%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$194 E£10.2K

$406 R 6,692

-52.12%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$514 E£26.9K

$935 R 15.4K

-45.02%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$334 E£17.5K

$796 R 13.1K

-58.12%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$806 E£42.2K

$1,111 R 18.3K

-27.40%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$513 E£26.9K

$777 R 12.8K

-33.95%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$200 E£10.5K

$1,476 R 24.4K

-86.44%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

16.21

11.23

44.35%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Cairo: October 3, 2026

Last update for South Africa: October 3, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Cairo

$194 30.1%

South Africa

$406 33.6% 109% $211

Groceries & Markets

Cairo

$141 21.9%

South Africa

$196 16.2% 38.5% $54

Clothing & Footwear

Cairo

$120 18.6%

South Africa

$122 10.1% 2.4% $2.9

Eating Out

Cairo

$91 14.1%

South Africa

$156 12.9% 71.1% $65

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cairo

$50 7.7%

South Africa

$206 17.1% 313% $156

Sport & Entertainment

Cairo

$37 5.8%

South Africa

$49 4% 30.8% $11

Getting Around

Cairo

$11 1.8%

South Africa

$73 6.1% 544% $62

Good to know

🇪🇬 Cairo

🇿🇦 South Africa

🕒 Local time

17:18 5:18 PM

16:18 4:18 PM

1 h behind Cairo

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,120,350 Capital

62,027,503

💱 Currency

Egyptian Pound EGP £

South African Rand ZAR R

📈 Exchange rate

100 EGP = 1.91 USD

100 EGP = 1.71 EUR

100 ZAR = 6.06 USD

100 ZAR = 5.41 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

ZAR, USD, EUR to EGP – Egyptian Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇬 Egyptian Pound (£)

Egyptian Pound exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 52.32 EGP (100 EGP = 1.91 USD). 1 EUR = 58.63 EGP (100 EGP = 1.71 EUR).

South African Rand exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 16.5 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.06 USD). 1 EUR = 18.49 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.41 EUR).

USD to EGP in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Cairo South Africa 6,600 km ≈ 9 h nonstop flight

From you

Cairo
South Africa

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

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